“Monkey has led the Tibetans away. Dog stayed behind to guard against them coming back. I came back first to report,” Donkey replied.
“You thought it through quite thoroughly,” Jin Feng said, patting Donkey on the shoulder. “Good work. Go and rest.”
“It’s no hardship!” Donkey shook his head honestly and turned to leave.
From start to finish, he only smiled at Qing Mulan and did not dare glance at the Ninth Princess even once.
They rested in the village until dusk, when Monkey and Dog finally returned together.
Monkey was much bolder than Donkey. He entered the room, greeted everyone one by one, then, ignoring Zhang Liang’s glare, grinned cheekily, picked up the kettle, and gulped down the entire pot of water.
Jin Feng waited until Monkey had finished drinking before asking with a smile, “How did it go? Did you lure them away?”
“With me personally taking action, how could I possibly fail?”
Monkey thumped his chest and declared confidently.
“You had better not boast,” Qing Mulan said with a pout. “Back at Wild Dog Slope, you claimed you had thoroughly scouted the big boss’s hideout, yet when I led people there, we still got ambushed, didn’t we?”
The battle at Wild Dog Slope was Qing Mulan’s and the Xihewan women’s unit’s first engagement.
As soon as they went up the mountain, they were caught in nets. If Jin Feng had not sent people to infiltrate ahead of time, she would have been in serious trouble.
“Miss Mulan, the gentleman said that a fall into the pit, a gain in your wit. After suffering that loss last time, haven’t I learned my lesson this time?”
Monkey said with an embarrassed smile, “I led them four li west, then another five li south. Otherwise, how could it have taken me until now to return?”
“How did you shake them off?” Zhang Liang asked. “Although the Tibetans are barbaric, some are cunning. Make sure they did not let you go on purpose.”
“I led them to a mountain with dense forest, then abandoned the horse and went up the mountain. In the woods, they were running around like fools. I made sure no one was tailing me.”
Monkey said, “If there had been a tail, Captain, you could chop off my head, and I would not say a word in protest.”
Hearing this, Zhang Liang nodded to Jin Feng and the Ninth Princess.
Tibetan cavalry were indeed unsuited to searching in mountain forests. Monkey had grown up in the woods since childhood, so he should have completely shaken off the Tibetans.
“Then, as we discussed earlier, shall we set off once it gets dark?” Jin Feng asked.
It was currently the middle of the month, with a large, bright moon. The three of them had earlier decided to travel under cover of night for greater safety.
“That works,” the Ninth Princess nodded.
“Inform the cooking team to set up pots and cook,” Zhang Liang called his deputy over and ordered. “Increase the number of patrolling scouts and extend the patrol range another two li outward. Be careful that cooking smoke does not attract Tibetans.”
“Yes!” The deputy turned and ran off.
After dinner, everyone rested for another half hour. They set out only when the moon had risen.
The air at that time was still unpolluted, the moon round and bright. They could see the road clearly even without torches.
The team travelled through the night until dawn, when they finally camped in a mountain valley.
This valley was surrounded by continuous mountains, making it difficult for Tibetan cavalry to approach.
For the next few days, Jin Feng and the others rested by day and travelled by night. A journey that normally took two days took them three nights to reach the Jinma River.
The Min River, like the Jialing River, was one of the important tributaries of the Yangtze. At Yuzui in Dujiangyan, it was divided into inner and outer rivers, with the main flow of the outer river called the Jinma River.
However, in this world, there were no Li Bing and his son. What was called Dujiangyan in Da Kang was known instead as the Jin Dike.
Transportation in Da Kang was underdeveloped, and grain was often transported by water.
Grain collected and transported this way was called canal grain.
The Shu region was difficult to traverse, making it hard to move levied grain out by land. Most was shipped by water, so Da Kang had established a canal grain transfer office upstream on the Jinma River, specifically to handle shipping grain collected from around Xichuan prefecture out of the region by boat.
Jin Feng’s group was targeting this transfer office.
But when they arrived, they found the transfer office had already been attacked by Tibetans and reduced to a pile of ashes.
In truth, the Tibetan attack had been pointless. The Ninth Princess and Qing Xinyao had long since transported all the grain to Xichuan prefectural city.
All the Tibetans had burned were the buildings.
“There are no bodies here, and no broken wood from ships on the river surface. The fleet should still be intact,” Zhang Liang said. “Monkey, disperse the scouts along the banks to search. Once you find the fleet, come back and report immediately.”
The canal grain transfer office was a grain distribution centre. Before coming, they had anticipated that the Tibetans would definitely attack it and were prepared for it to be empty.
The current situation was already much better than they had expected.
At least there were no signs that the fleet had been destroyed.
“Yes!”
Though Monkey usually lacked seriousness, he was very reliable when it came to proper tasks.
He agreed and led his scout team to spread out.
The fleet had not gone far, just three li upstream.
Upon learning the Ninth Princess had arrived, Wei Datong, the transfer commissioner of the office, hurried over with his men.
“Your Highness, this subordinate failed to hold the grain depot. It was burned by the Tibetans. Please punish me, Your Highness!”
Wei Datong knelt at the Ninth Princess’s feet the moment he saw her, begging for mercy.
In reality, the burning of the depot had little to do with him.
After all, even Qing Xinyao could do nothing about the Tibetans, and the grain inside had long been moved. The fleet was undamaged, so even if the Ministry of Personnel investigated, they would find no major fault.
“Your culpability will naturally be reviewed by the Ministry of Personnel. This palace will not interfere.”
The Ninth Princess slightly raised her chin and asked, “Is the canal transport fleet still here?”
“All present. Sixty-six vessels in total, large and small, none damaged,” Wei Datong replied.
“Very good. Prepare ten large ships and ten small ones. This palace requires them.”
“Yes!” After agreeing, Wei Datong hesitated, then said, “Your Highness, if I may report, the vessels of the transfer office are all cargo ships for transporting grain, not warships!”
“This palace is naturally aware of that,” the Ninth Princess said. “You need only provide the ships and boatmen. Nothing else concerns you.”
“Yes!”
Hearing the Ninth Princess say this, Wei Datong advised no further and withdrew respectfully.
Soon, ten large grain transport ships and ten small boats docked at the transfer office wharf.
As they had done on the Jialing River, the escorts boarded the large ships in groups, with the small boats patrolling front and rear.
Watching the escorts skilfully install heavy crossbows in various positions on the vessels, Wei Datong immediately understood the Ninth Princess’s plan.
Seeing the Zhen Yuan Escort Agency flag raised by the escorts, he grew even more excited.
Lately, the Zhen Yuan Escort Agency had been increasingly active on the Yangtze. As a canal grain transfer commissioner who dealt with water transport daily, Wei Datong had naturally heard of it.
Later, he had also enquired about information regarding Jin Feng.
Observing people’s expressions was a basic professional skill for officials. After a quick glance around, he fixed his gaze on Jin Feng.
“Might this gentleman be Baron Qingshui, Lord Jin Feng?”
Taking advantage of the Ninth Princess’s absence, Wei Datong approached and cupped his hands in greeting.
“This humble one is indeed he. Greetings, Lord Wei!”
Jin Feng smiled and returned a scholar’s courtesy.
“Rumours say the gentleman is young and accomplished. Seeing you today, I realise the rumours do not do you justice!”
Wei Datong praised.
“Lord overpraises me,” Jin Feng said. He had no time to chat idly with an old man and took the initiative to ask, “May I ask what matter Lord Wei seeks this humble one for?”
